Monday, January 30, 2017

My dear friend Vincy commented on many of my posts and that really encouraged me to write a post a day and complete the Blogathon, but I missed the weekend of 14th and them my daughter fell sick, she had a fever and loose-motions. I could not send her to day care and had to keep her home for 2 days. On Friday the fever subsided and so I send her to day care but got a call in the afternoon as she had 2 loose motions and they wanted us to take her home. She felt better only by Saturday evening and then I got a nasty cold again.
it was so bad water kept dripping from my nose and I took medicines to help me.
When I got a little better the son felt sick and had to be kept home for a day and then who else but the hubby to catch the cold.
Hopefully we are all done with the entire family getting sick in January but unfortunately I was not in any way motivated to open my blog and post.

Me thinks the only way to complete a successful Blogathon is to write all 30/31 posts as drafts and the just post it each day :)

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Woke up leisurely and then went for brunch to a Mexican Restaurant, it was great Mexican food , fajitas, sizzlers, enchiladas yummm.
Then with no really fixed agenda we went to a nearby gaming area, they had pont rides, ATV rides and Go-Karting. Since the little one was not allowed on ATV me an Ritvik decided to go on the ATV whereas father-daughter stayed back. It was an awesome 1 hr ride, middle the guide took us to a secluded place where all of us dived in a beautiful naturally formed pool. We got back and did some Go-Karting and then off to the resort, after a nap all of us went to the resort beach, the little one not being used to sand did not want to get down from my lap, the son had lots of fun.
We then returned to the swimming pool and the kids had a great time.
We also walked around the resort a lot as that was the last day for us there and we were checking out to another place in the morning.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Yesterday I felt like eating Malai Kofta and I knew I had paneer and potato at home, so I went to whole 9 yards and made Malai Kofta with garlic naan.
Here is how I did it:-
For the Koftas
Boiled 1 potato
Some paneer crumbled
Mix together with red chilly powder, garam masla, pinch of salt and some turmeric, I added some besan and then made small balls of it. I took the paniyaram vessel and shallow fried them.

For the gravy I took oil in a vessel, added cashews, onion, sautéed till brown and added tomatoes, mixed well for about 10 mins. Once cooled then grinded it, took the mixture in a vessel, added salt, red chilly powder, coriander powder and the koftas.

For the naan, I tool 50% maida and wheat flour, made a douch with hot water, milk and oil, added some chopped garlic to this.
Heated a tava on high flame and made the naan.

Monday, January 09, 2017

***Recap of Puerto Rico Trip***
For Day 3 go here
For Day 2 go here
For Day 1 go here

We did not have any itenary for this day, so we browsed on the attractions and decided to do the Camuy Caves.
The Camuy River Cave Park is a cave system in Puerto Rico. It is located in northwestern Puerto Rico The caverns are part of a large network of natural limestone caves and underground waterways carved out by the third-largest underground river in the world, the Río Camuy.
We got our tickets and waited for the trolley ride that would take us down to the caves, we passed a lot of rich foliage.
Once inside the caves we did see a lot of stalactites hanging down , there were steps to walk through the caves and the guide gave us some insights on the formation of the caves. Then we walked about and went to the mouth of the cave, took a lot of pictures and returned back. Normally I do not enjoy being in caves a lot but this one was good, a must try for all those who visit Puerto Rico.
We had booked our next two nights at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa, Fajardo. It was a long drive to the resort, even longer was getting parking and then getting checked in, well, it was a typical resort with huge shops, eating areas, casino. We quickly went and checked in our room but unfortunately there was no microwave in the room, if we wanted anything heated up like milk etc we had to go to a nearby pastry shop and ask them to heat stuff(it really sucked). A friend of mine had told that there was a eating strip and the tacos were very famous, so we decided to do dinner there, I did not find any taco place so we just went with the delicacies there like crab something/lobster/fish --I don't remember the names exactly now.
It was great to be seated out on the patio and have our dinner, we then returned back to the resort and off to bed.

Sunday, January 08, 2017

Yesterday night I started watching the movie 2 States, watched it halfway till 12 and then went to bed. Today we all woke up aaram se what with it being a Sunday and all. Called home a it is their Visa Renewal Interview tomorrow morning **keeping fingers crossed**, quickly made tea and bread toast took bath and then myself and the kids went for a bday party in the party hall.
It was a Frozen theme birthday and so we went in our blues dress colors. There were activity for the kids, coloring, puzzles, some were just running around, then we had the cake cutting after which music was on for the kids to dance and a tissue wrapping game, the older one was with his friends, the younger one preferred to remain near me.

Soon it was pizza time after which there were cup ice-creams, strawberry and chocolate flavored and then the little return gifts were given. All in all a fun party!

Saturday, January 07, 2017

I have been on the lookout for good bools to read for quite some time, now that the kids no longer need my undivided attention and they have taken an interest in T.V I have some time for myself. I was super interested in Harry Potter books and so I googled on what to read after Harry Potter and came across this link which you all should check out.
The first book I read was

Inkheart, Cornelia Funke

What it’s about: This story within a story follows a 12-year-old girl named Meggie, who learns that her father can bring fictional characters to life. One night while reading a book called Inkheart, an evil ruler escapes and abducts them both. Meggie must learn to harness the magic that caused this nightmare so she can change the course of the story

My verdict: I never knew what was going to happen, the beginning was interesting but then I soon lost interest in the story and the characters. Lastly I just skimmped the novel to see how it ends

Next on my list was

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson), Rick Riordan

What it’s about: Percy Jackson, a young boy who faced several strange, supernatural encounters, discovers that he is actually the son of Poseidon. Percy and his friends go on a quest to prevent a war between the Greek Gods.

My verdict : I liked the whole series, infact I read all the 6 books at a stretch, I do like Greek mythology so that added to my interest. However by the last book the battles were getting redundant.Overall a good series.

Next was

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

What it’s about: This story is about a circus, one with black and white tents that arrives with no warning or announcement. Behind the scenes, two young magicians prepare for a duel that they have been trained for since childhood. Despite themselves, the duo fall in love, but what they don’t know is that this game can only leave one standing.

My verdict:-- I loved this book, the writing, the descriptions, the suspense, just beautiful. I wanted to take a pen myself and start writing a novel on the same lines.I do not mind reading it again.

Next was

The Magicians, Lev Grossman

What it’s about: The Magicians, the first book of a trilogy, is about Quentin Coldwater, a kid who attends an exclusive college of magic in upstate New York. He and his friends travel in pursuit of finding a magical land, but what they actually find is more than they bargained for.

My verdict: The beginning held my interest and I kept reading it along, but somewhere at the three fourths I felt it stretched out a lot. In fact if the author would have stopped it there and then di the remaining in a sequel I would have definitely read the sequel. Right now I am not too interested int he sequel portion. FYI: I saw the trailer for this on Netflix, not sure if I will watch it.

Next and current

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Michael Scott

What it’s about: This story is about Nicholas Flamel, the greatest Alchemyst of his day. Nearly 700 years after his birth, he still lives, the secret of eternal life hidden in a book that Dr. John Dee is trying to steal. If it ends up in his hands, it could destroy the world, and based on a prophecy, twins Sophie and Josh Newman are the only people who can help save humanity.

My verdict So far: Not interesting enough, I started a few weeks ago and it has been days since I have returned to reading the rest of the pages, not sure if I will get back to it or just go and get another one form the list.

Please do let me know if anyone has any other good books that I can read to.

Somehow I missed publishing the 6th post. It was a Friday evening and I always thought I had plenty of time to post. I had meetings till 4pm after which I cleaned the kitchen and went to bath, Dundu baby came back from day-care so I gave her milk and put tea, after which I had this splitting headache because of the cold and congestion, just sat idly watching the kids play their own game, gave bath to Dundu and by 6:45 I took her to the play area. She made we walk with her up and down the staircase a couple of times giving me some exercise and then after some time lot of kids came to the play area so she went about playing with them, I walked a little with my friends, chatted with some, at 8 the poker group came so I played a little , then at 9 came home and quickly made some paneer paratha for dinner.
After having dinner it was past 10 and the hubby put the movie Dear Zindagi, sat watching it till after 12 and hit the bed at 12:30. It was then that I realized that I had not posted for the day. I immediately wanted to get up and write but I had already past the deadline for the day so let it go and promised to write 2 posts today.
So here is the 1st one, missing a post gave me the fodder for it

Thursday, January 05, 2017

Nov 12th Saturday was the older one's 7th birthday. Long back I had though of a swimming pool party but we had our annual Diwali celebrations on 13th and on 12th itself we had our Indoor Volleyball Tournament and I did not want to delay with another week, so I though I'll skip this year.
I was in 2 minds till the last minute,at times he bugs me so much that I do not want to do anything for him but birthdays are always special and it was always in the back of the mind to do something special.
he and his BFF have the birthday in the same week, so I asked his friend's Mom if she wanted to do a combined party as they have the same circle of friends. She agreed and we decided to do a pool party on Friday the 11th. We placed orders for the cake and got chips,juice and also same shirt for both of them..
I got printed invitations and asked them to fill it and invite their friends themselves.
On 11th Friday after picking the little one from day-care, we went to the pool, it was a 5-7 party, the kids began assembling and jumping along in the pool. All of them had great fun.
There is a tiny party room at the side where we placed the birthday banner, kept the cakes there and lighted them. It took a hard time for us to get the kids out of the pool, but finally we managed and got to the cake cutting. Cake/Pizza,juice was provided to all.Lots of pictures taken and beautiful memories captured.
Happy 7th my love.

Wednesday, January 04, 2017

Day 3 , morning we had our breakfast of bread and jam and then checked out from the hotel. We were covering the North Side of the island. We drove to our hotel along the beaches and on the way we stopped at the "Arecibo Lighthouse and Historical Park" . It looked like a tiny park and we thought we would skip it and keep going but the kids needed a break and so we went in, it turned out to be beautiful, the ocean view was spectacular, the light house was closed, we could just walk up to it, there was sort of a mini zoo with different kinds of birds and animals, there was also a water park, the son had loads of fun splashing in the water, there was a car water ride that me and the daughter got into, on the way to the hotel both the kids slept in the car, as it was getting eve we started searching for an eatery to stop by. We decided on Panda Express and I wanted to eat some Chinese. The GPS kept giving some directions and we reached our hotel signal, so if we took a right we would go to the hotel where a left would be to panda Express. G said we should just go to the hotel and get something to eat whereas I was adamant to go to Panda Express and we drove through some inner roads and it really looked like a farmland with no hotel in near sight. Dismayed we turned back and headed for the hotel itself. We had some sandwiches to eat at the hotel restaurant , checked in , changed and then went to another nearby park, it was getting dark by now, so we strolled a little and then drove back to the hotel, had curd/rice, and then went to bed.

Tuesday, January 03, 2017

RULES OF POKER.........................................................................................
Sometime last year i.e 2015 June the whole Broadmoor group)our gang precisely) got introduced to poker and we went all professional, casino style.The chips set was ordered, the shuffler, the cards, the tablecloth the entire set-up was done.

The rules were shared about and everyone got upto date on their poker terminology, ante, bet, raise, call, river etc. I had played poker few years back with a different set of friends and so understood it quite a bit. Wives were introduced to the game and it became a family game to be played by all during week-ends. Playing was done for real cash, keep an account to be tallied at the month-end. Everyone loved it, week-ends changes to games to be played every evening. No longer guys wanted to play TT or pool as was the custom in long winter months, everyone turned to Poker. Week-days we started at 7pm and went on till after 9 pm. The pull of the cards tempted one and all. Then someone went one step ahead and suggested a poker tournament. Trips were made to the casino, rules studied and implemented in our own in-house poker house. Week-ends were for Tournaments. Buy-in's varied from $5 to $7 depending on number of players. First 3 spots were given prizes. Sometimes the number of players were 15-16 in which case 2 tables were arranged and then merged after 7 remained behind. Winning led to highs and losing led to playing more for the comeback, it was an addiction like no other, wanting to return fast from office, get dinner ready and off to the poker table.

Soon 2016 Summer began, outdoor games began, Volleyball tournaments returned, poker took a backseat, someone initiated, others declined, it was a poker respite for a few months, now the winter has began again, poker has reared it's head once again but the addicition is limited, wives have somehow remained away from it, guys are playing TT, pool and keeping to poker only on week-ends. Let's see what the coming year does to the game.

Monday, January 02, 2017

Day 2 and my cold and sore throat has not improved at all. I cannot do my two favorite things in the world, Eat & Sleep.

2016 started with putting the daughter in day -care, started with half-days which was hectic in itself, what with the work load and getting her back within the stipulated 5 hr time, the whole coping mechanism for her in the day care and for me, though for me it was not so bad this time as I already had the older one's experience and knew it would all be fine within 3 weeks.
She also got the ear infection 3 times consecutively within a span of 2 weeks which got me a little worried, even here the older's ones experience was handy and knew that it was just a period of time her immune system is taking to adjust to the new surroundings. Finally mid Feb the ear infections subsided and the little one adjusted to her day care. We also transitioned to the full time which a huge relief for me.

February , we also had the Indoor VB Tournament, one of the girls was going to India permanently and we wanted to win the cup for her. We played a good match but ended up with the Runner's cup.

March, April, May went by bringing the summer. Summer, saw a lot of Broadmooor Volleyball Tournaments, which was good fun and exercise in all, we even conducted Girl's Throwball matches which brought about it's own dramas , there were relay (running), older's one Soccer classes began, a lot of outings, camping's happened.
We lost the Semis in the Sand VB Tournament but the guys won the cup. We made up for that by winning the Womens Gold cup in November.

End of the year saw the hubby getting a muscle pull which lead to back pains, leading him to the chiropractor who started his adjustments , leading in turn to head pains and dizziness and overall mentally tired affecting all of us in some way or the other.

Hopefully 2017 will gives us a lot more different memories to cherish.

Sunday, January 01, 2017

The blog has been neglected a lot in the past 2 years and so when I read R's Mom and Maya's post I decided to get on the Blogathon, a much needed respite needed for both the blog and me.

It is going to be difficult especially on week-ends when I absolutely refuse to touch the laptop and sadly I am not that tech-savvy that I can write blogs through my phone, so let's see how it goes.

I am even clueless as to what topics I am going to cover for all of the 31 days, I don't want to just put out stuff there to mark a check against the day but want to put stuff that I would enjoy to read a many years from now. There will be a lot of picture posts for sure.

I will also try to track my fitness regime and diet here.

Ok, so now for the real content. How did we celebrate the New Year, already plans were being made for a potluck, menu was being decided, people being added in the WhatsApp group created. Unfortunately yours truly came down with a sore throat and a bad case od running nose and headaches :(

It started with a mild throat pain on Tue which I neglected and then the symptoms went on to get worse. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday was spent in a concoction of lemon, honey, warm water. Saturday morning, it got so worse that I woke up in the morning and went to the clinic hoping it would be Strep and I would get some antibiotics. the Strep culture came back -ve and more rest and gargling was advised by the doctor. A bad case od cold also started bringing with it it's own headaches. Somehow I managed to prepare the mutton sukha promised for the potluck. All of us met at the Broadmoor party hall at 8pm , food was served and had gladly. Then the poker tournament began which I did not take part in, by 10:30 the headache was unbearable and so I got the little one home and tried to rest, which was a mere thought as soon the son came back to poop and then a little while later after 12 to be precise to sleep and by then the coughing returned in full earnest which send all thoughts of sleep flying through the window. I got up and watched the movie Dhanak on Netflix and finally managed to go to bed at 4am.

Resolutions You may ask:- It's been a lot many years that I stopped making any Resolutions for the New year, but this time I want to train and run for a Marathon, depends on a number of external factors, fingers crossed.

BTW, do take part in the Blogathon and be a part of us and let me know what your resolutions are for this year.

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About Me

Well about me, my traits can be described in 3 words - possesive, steady and focussed. Like a true Taurean I simply want things to be get done which may be sometimes viewed as stubbornness. The good life in all it's guises appeals to me. Down to earth with a no-nonsense approach, saying what I mean with a very strong sense of values